Bedtime Stories
by ReveAbattre
Summary: A young Queen continues a family legacy.


Disclaimer: Voltron belongs to WEP.  
  
Story by: Jeny (ReveAbattre)  
  
Bedtime Stories  
  
" Momma, will you please read some more?" A child's innocent query floated through the air.  
  
Dimpled and dainty hands reached pleadingly towards her mother, as large blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears at the utter terror of not getting another bed time story. The little girl's bowtie mouth had puckered into a irresistible pout that had been inherited from her mother, a pout that would one day be famous for turning hardened warriors into lustful wrecks of manliness  
  
For now, however, the pouting frown was still naive and it's owner not aware of the full power that it could wield. Instead, the child simply turned her practiced technique for getting what she wanted onto her mother, reasoning that if it worked on Coran and Father, it would work on her Momma. What she hadn't counted on though, was her mother's own personal experience in using such techniques.  
  
Queen Aurora smiled placatingly down at her five year old daughter. Not for one minute was she fooled by Allura's attempts at coercion. Her husband had shamefully spoiled their only child , but yet she could not find the power within herself to turn her back on the pleading face. She revered this time spent with her daughter, for affairs of State rarely allowed her this luxury. As such, she would do anything to lengthen the time they spent together. With a smile, she reached for the weathered and worn book that she had just placed on the nightstand and turned her eyes towards her daughter.  
  
The book had a gift to Aurora from her mother, and it had been originally been bestowed upon Aurora's mother by her grandmother; a royal legacy. The book had become a beloved and familiar bedtime ritual for many young princesses of the Arusian royalty that gave some semblance of normalcy to people who usually knew no such thing.  
  
When Allura was old enough, Aurora would pass the book to her and with it, the history of good times and happiness that had weathered the pages.  
  
The book's spine cracked as it opened, and Aurora's slender and graceful fingers slipped through the pages, trying to find a story to lull her daughter into a dream state. The idyllic picture of Aurora's loving smile was imprinted on her child as her mother began to read, and soon both were lost in another world of knights and their heroic damsels.  
  
______________________  
  
" And the Knight and his Princess lived happily ever after." The book closed with a soft thump and was laid gently on the bedside table. The Queen leaned down and kissed the sleeping child with a soft wisp, then stood and began to move before impulsively turning back and grabbing the storybook. She then crept silently from the bedroom and once she reached the corridor, stretched to remove the kinks that had formed along her back.  
  
The dear child was always so insistent at never falling asleep after one story, and more often than not, a good part of the late evening was spent weaving tales of past from the very book she now held in her hands. She smiled and remembered another little girl who shared that trait. It had taken years before that particular habit had abruptly ended, but when it had, the memories of the stories had stayed fresh in a young woman's mind and were her companions on many cold nights.  
  
Allura strode through the metallic halls of the Castle of Lions to her study, keyed in her access code, and entered the room. After setting the book upon her desk, she let her legs carry her to an inviting armchair and sank into its warm comforts, thankful for the end of another long day.  
  
Eventually her eyes returned to the storybook. She remembered the day that her mother had given it to her and told of its journey though three generations of royal children. She remembered how pleased she had been at being given such a special gift from her mother, one that showed the Queen knew she was growing up and becoming a responsible young lady. The book had been the last gift from her mother, for Zarkon had taken Aurora's life the very next week.  
  
Allura reached out and gently drew the book to her from its resting place on the desk. Carefully she opened its softened pages and came upon a story that had always been her favorite as a child; now her own daughter enjoyed the story as much as she had. Allura began scanning the words, and time quickly slipped by as did story after story.  
  
After a while, her eyelids began to droop and soon slipped shut allowing Allura to escape to the place where the story book had always inspired, with one significant difference. When she was a child she had always dreamed of a faceless knight who would protect and defend her forever, but now she dreamed of her King, who had finally revealed himself to be that nameless hero of her childhood dreams.  
  
At last, the book slipped down and came to a rest within her lap and the only movement in the room was the soft breath of a sleeping Queen Allura. 


End file.
